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Okay, so it's not really an official BYU club, but we're still meeting up! If you're in Utah Valley, and you want to be able to chat about Brandon Sanderson, we're going to start meeting up in person to talk about theories, favorite parts, favorite characters, and other things we love about Brandon.
We may meet regularly, or possibly not. We'll see how many people show up and what they want to do.
Anyways, we're meeting Tuesday, April 7th at the JFSB (Joseph Fielding Smith Building) main floor at BYU in Provo.
There will be pizza! There will be soda! It should be pretty fun.
Feel free to bring some friends, and let me know if you're coming so I can get enough food. And it would also be great if you could bring a dollar or two to help out with the funds. But if you don't, don't worry about it.
(And yes, it's for reals.)
EDIT- Here's a map of BYU for those who don't know where the JFSB is: http://map.byu.edu/

So as I've been watching what people ask Brandon on his twitter & facebook, one of the questions I see being asked is "When is ____ book coming out?" I thought it would be helpful if we put up a list of an estimated time when books are expected, as well as a short blurb of what each book is.
Note that a lot of these blurbs aren't actually quotes, but just in quotes for formatting reasons.
Scribbler The Rithmatist- May 14, 2013
Steelheart (Book 1 of Steelheart Trilogy)- September 24, 2013
(Stormlight Archive Book 2)- Oct/Nov 2013, Spring 2014
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell (Short Story in Dangerous Women Anthology edited by George R. R. Martin)- May 2014
Mistborn: Birthright-2014
Tentative information:
The Dark Talent (Alcatraz 5)- 2013 (Will be written and put on Brandon's site, then eventually will find a publisher).
Elantris 2- Fall 2015?
Shadows of Self (sequel to Alloy of Law)
That is about as far as I dare plan Brandon's books. This is NOT official in anyway, this is just some estimates I've heard from time to time from Brandon and Peter.
EDIT-7/1/2012 Gave a specific date for Legion.
EDIT- 7/5/2012 Gave a specific date for Emperor's Soul, information about Shadows for Silence.

So! You have been hearing about this mysterious "cosmere"? You came to 17thshard.com to learn about it. Well here is a fairly simple guide to get you started.
(Quick warning- there are major spoilers for Mistborn 3: Hero of Ages, and minor spoilers for Way of Kings)
The cosmere is a term we use to describe Brandon Sanderson's books that are in the same universe. They have a few similar characters, and have the same basic underlying Theory of Magic, or Realmatic theory. We learned about it mainly from Brandon's Hero of Ages (HoA) Q&A. There's not very much of it in the books, and so if you missed it the first time, don't worry. We all did too. Plus, Brandon has said that this WILL NOT be important to know. It's sort of an easter egg hunt for the intrepid fans who are wanting to dig deep into his books. He says someday he'll write about this underlying story, but it probably won't be for years and years.
Do you remember Preservation and Ruin in Hero of Ages? They are what we call Shards of Adonalsium. You see, a long time ago, there was a person/object/thing named Adonalsium. He/it shattered into sixteen pieces, and certain people "took" these shards to give them a guiding force (like how Vin took Preservation, or how Sazed took Preservation and Ruin). However, over time, the Shard shapes the bearer's personality. Thus, there are two names for each Shard. One is for the person holding the Shard, and the other is for the Shard itself. This is a list of known (or assumed) original Shards and their holders.
Shard - Holder -Book
Preservation - Leras (Dead) - MB
Ruin - Ati (Dead) - MB
Harmony* - Sazed - MB
Endowment - ? - WB
Devotion (Splintered) - Aona (Dead) - Elantris
Dominion (Splintered) - Skai (Dead) - Elantris
Odium (Hate) - Rayse - WoK
Cultivation - ? - WoK
Honor - Tanavast (Dead)- WoK
? - Bavadin - White Sand
*Harmony isn't really a Shard. It doesn't hold any of a Shard's Intent, it's just more of a nickname for Sazed since he holds both Preservation and Ruin.
For more information on Shards, check out the wiki here.
Now, there are also what are called Splinters and Slivers. Slivers are people who used to hold a majority of a shard. The Lord Ruler (TLR) and Vin (via the Well of Ascention) and Kelsier all are slivers (Kelsier held the power for a little bit in HoA). They have a little bit of a residual power left in them (which explains why TLR kept things the same for forever).
Splinters are objects of power from Shards. There are Splinters in Warbreaker, Elantris, and Way of Kings. The only definite splinter we know of is the Divine Breath that 'powers' the Returned.
The Theory of Magic is basically this: There are three Realms. The Physical Realm, where people exist, you can touch things, etc. The Cognitive Realm, aslo called Shadesmar, which you can use to change the Physical Realm. Shallan goes there twice (it's the place with all the spheres.) There is also the Spiritual Realm.
Now. There is a known planet jumper. Hoid, who often takes the role of a storyteller, beggar, or informant. He also leads some refugees in WoA. He is an old man with an arrowed face, and usually a beard. He probably comes from the Dragonsteel world (which is unpublished). He is "adept at manipulating Shadesmar", which we have taken to mean that he uses it to travel from world to world. He is also a Lightweaver (see the ship when Wit/Hoid talks to Kaladin), and has not experienced all the time since the beginning of his birth. In other words, he has a way of distorting time that may or may not be connected to Faster than Light (FTL) technology. He also has some way of knowing where he's going to need to be.
The Seventeenth Shard (who we are named after) is a group that includes a Galladon from Elantris, and Demoux from Mistborn. They are after Hoid, for some reason.
There are also the names of the planets.
Elantris: Sel
Warbreaker: Nalthis
Mistborn: Scadrial
Way of Kings: Roshar
White Sand: Taldain
Dragonsteel: Yolen
So that is the basics. Any questions? Disputations? Further info?
If you want more detail, you should check out my Brandonothology. It includes several Q&A he's done online. I suggest you start with Hero of Ages.
Also, some commonly used abbreviations-
MB- Mistborn (usually the series)
FE- Mistborn, Final Empire
WoA- Mistborn, Well of Ascension
HoA- Mistborn, Hero of Ages
WoK- Way of Kings
SA- Stormlight Archive
WB- Warbreaker
Also, for a translation of those mystery pages in WoK, look here, and for the full Feruchemical table and Realmatic explanation of the Three Metallic arts (Hemalurgy, Allomancy and Feruchemy), look here.
EDIT- I added some detail about how Brandon says it's a behind the scene story.

Hey guys, I have a favor to ask of you.
Every so often, I stumble across an interview. Sometimes they're all typed up, which is nice and easy for me to add to the Interview Database. But sometimes, I stumble across one that is a podcast or an interview. These are much more time consuming, and so I decided that I would reach out to you guys to receive help.
Go ahead and tell me if you're planning on transcribing an interview so that we don't do duplicate work.<br><br>I'm going to keep this list current, and when you finish a transcription, go ahead and shoot me a PM, or an email (zach at 17thshard.com), and depending on the interest level, we can either put it straight on the Database, or we can make a thread on here with the transcription.
Oh there's one more thing- you'll also receive an award. That's right, I'll give anyone who transcribes an interview over 15 minutes long an award. Hoorah!
1. Speculate SF- Brandon Sanderson Interview- (March 7, 2012)- Windrunner (in progress)
2.AHH! Data loss!!!
Sometimes I think IPB doesn't like me....
3. St. John's Q&A- (March 2012)- Voidus (in progress)
4. Boomtron Inverview- (Sep 21, 2010)- Voidus (in Database)
5. Google + Hangout- (April 17th, 2012)- Voidus (in Database)
Others I need to put in database:
http://www.ericjamesstone.com/blog/2005/08/11/writer_interview_brandon_sanderson/
http://twg.17thshard.com/index.php?topic=6896.msg151810#msg151810

If you get in line early (for the first 100), a wristband will get you the book corresponding to your number in line. If you don't want to wait in line, you can show up to the event (which I believe starts at like 7pmish) at the Utah Valley Convention Center WITH YOUR BARCODE that was emailed to you, and you'll be given a wristband then, which you'll then use to get your book.
If you want to be there for Brandon's talking/Q&A, you have to get a SECOND wristband from the Utah Valley Convention Center on Monday Nov 13 starting at 10:00am.
Also, while I'm not in the line (yet), I'll be keeping track of the length and such. So far there's 5 people waiting in line!

Hey guys, I need some tech help. I am making a website for a friend, (and I've made websites in the past using Dreamweaver/HTML and other Adobe things for images) and I was wondering what I could use so that they can edit the text without needing to know html, and without having Dreamweaver.
Any suggestions?

For anyone who's here early, I'm right outside the bookstore with a decked out lanyard. In case you're wondering where to go, at 6:30, we will be in room 3228 which is the floor above the bookstore. I should probably be here until then.

Kind of. I had some label stickers that let me download a template so it would download right, and I just pulled the 17th Shard logo and printed out a couple sheets. Since each one give about 50, they've kept us going for quite a few signings.
I'm not quite sure if we'll be able to play Cosmere against Humanity, since I'm not sure if the person who has it printed out is coming or not. I really should print a copy of it....

I just want to say, Brandon had me fooled.
I read the end, read the afterword, then read the acknowledgements, then Brandon's acknowledgements, then even part of the writing and analysis prompts before giving up and realizing that it was the end. Finished. Kaput.
"But how?" I asked myself. "There are way more than usual loose ends. Why is there a Freeland left to write to? But both Attica and Grandpa's death! Man, Brandon wasn't kidding when he said this book was dark."
And then I come on here to talk about the sudden and complete ending of the series. And I see others talking, and realize.
There's a last page.
I scrambled to my book, tearing it open, and see the sneaky little inserted folded paper on the literal last page. Made so that I would only see it if I was looking for it.
I read it.
And I let out a sigh of relief. Of course Grandpa's not dead. And of course Bastille's married to Alcatraz. And of course it's not the end. Brandon wouldn't want to have to answer all 500 questions that the ending leaves at every single signing!
Bravo Brandon. You had me fooled.
It was a really enjoyable read. I think I might have to reread it to catch on some of the jokes I didn't see the first time around (Thesaurus. Man, that's awesome.) I did catch Dif being Biblioden about halfway through. He really was trying too hard, and I think his name's similarity to Dilaf had me watching him closely anyways. Bastille's book will be interesting to read. I'm looking forward to it.

So what is up with Syl and Kaladin? Is Syl a very special windspren? Is Kaladin a special person? Or is there some sort of connection to them? Why does Syl exist in the Cognitive Realm, where most windspren don't? What do you guys think?

I'm back from the depths of inactivity to find a field full of inactives and spiked. Oh dear. I was always pretty sure that Nyali was spiked and I was pretty sure Alvron was as well. Araris comes as a surprise though. But faction before spiked. Ah well.

Now that Elb is lynched and that's all taken care of, it's time to try and root out the other 2 Spiked.
Straw, you mentioned that Nayali was indicated as the most likely to be Spiked in your faction. Why is that?

Elb
I'm curious, however, as to who the other spiked are. We know that dowanx chose Elb. Does that mean he chose similar players for the other factions? Or did he pick a few lurkers who are trying to wait out the game?

I like that idea. What about, when we don't have anyone that we really want lynched, if we had the strongest house say who they're most suspicious of? I know that I'd like to vote for a Cett, and it may as well be one that the Cetts are suspicious of.
But then again, I doubt the Cett will like this plan much.
So unless they say who they want, I'll go with you Nyali . I'm not sure if you're Spiked, but I know your a good player, and if I was the Inquisitor, I'd want to have you on my team.

I am doing well, but I was busy over the weekend and my phone was dead over most of yesterday.
Aman, even with it being a faction game, I am immediately distrustful when I see people blatantly lying. I understand that you did it to protect yourself, but given that you lied about that, how can we trust anything else you say? Are you really a seeker? Will the plans you come up with be ones you actually follow?
Edit- Grammar